Since the PCIe 5.0 specification was first released in 2019, new server processors supporting the interface, along with peripheral devices, have been introduced to the market one after another. In response to that rapid growth, Samsung Electronics recently developed the PM1743 – a high-performance PCIe 5.0 SSD based on the company’s advanced sixth-generation V-NAND. The new device will help process vast amounts of data more quickly as the increasing popularity of AI services drives market demand for high-performance servers.

Ushering in a new generation of solid-state storage, the PCIe 5.0 SSD is twice as fast as PCIe 4.0 drives, offering a bandwidth of 32 gigatransfers per second (GT/s) and featuring an EDSFF (E3.S) form factor with a thickness of 7.5mm. This allows for easy server scalability, while its enhanced power efficiency and advanced security and reliability support greater speed and accuracy. Together, these elements have the potential to make life and work a little better for everyone.

Incorporating the PM1743 into high-performance server systems maximizes systems’ efficiency and enables superfast data processing. This will not only help save time, but also enable convenient solutions to enhance our personal and professional lives.

The video below highlights how the PM1743 works and how it can help make work and life more comfortable. In a nutshell, the new SSD supports the fast and accurate analysis of huge amounts of data across a variety of fields including everything from smart farms to healthcare and finance.

“For over a decade, Samsung has been delivering SATA, SAS and PCIe-based SSDs that have been recognized for outstanding performance and reliability by leading enterprise server customers including corporations, governments and financial institutions,” said Yong Ho Song, Executive Vice President and Head of the Memory Controller Development Team at Samsung Electronics. “The introduction of our PCIe 5.0 SSD, along with PCIe 6.0-based product developments that are underway, will further solidify our technological leadership in the enterprise server market.”

“Intel has been working with Samsung to test Samsung’s newest PCIe NVMe SSD, the PM1743. Together, we have jointly resolved complicated technical issues encountered with PCIe 5.0 during this initial evaluation period. The performance potential of Gen5 is truly impressive. In the near future, we strongly believe that PCIe Gen5 systems with high-speed NVMe SSDs will have the ability to transform applications such as AI/ML and high-performance databases,” said Jim Pappas, Director, Technology Initiatives, Intel Corporation. “Looking ahead, we are confident that Intel and Samsung’s continued commitment in industry leadership will provide these and other benefits to our mutual customers.”

PCIe 5.0 offers a bandwidth of 32 gigatransfers per second (GT/s), doubling that of PCIe 4.0. Leveraging a proprietary controller designed to support the latest PCIe standard, the PM1743 will deliver outstanding read and write speeds to accommodate the rapidly increasing performance requirements of data centers.

Samsung’s PM1743 will feature a sequential read speed of up to 13,000 megabytes per second (MB/s) and a random read speed of 2,500K input/output operations per second (IOPS), offering 1.9x and 1.7x faster speeds over the previous PCIe 4.0-based products. Moreover, write speeds have been elevated significantly, with a sequential write speed of 6,600 MB/s and a random write speed of 250K IOPS, also delivering 1.7x and 1.9x faster speeds, respectively. These remarkable data transfer rates will allow enterprise server manufacturers deploying the PM1743 to enjoy a much higher level of performance.

In addition, the new SSD can provide improved power efficiency of up to 608 MB/s per watt, which represents about a 30% boost over the previous generation. This is expected to lower server and data center operating costs significantly, while also helping to reduce their carbon footprint.

Available in a wide variety of capacities from 1.92 terabytes (TB) to 15.36TB, the PM1743 will be offered in the conventional 2.5-inch form factor, as well as in a 3-inch EDSFF (E3.S) — an increasingly popular SSD form factor designed specifically for next-generation enterprise servers and data centers. Customers deploying 7.5mm EDSFF SSDs will be able to double the storage density in their systems, compared to when the 15mm 2.5-inch form factor is used. Coupled with excellent signal integrity and thermal efficiency, the EDSFF is ideal for most PCIe 5.0 enterprise solutions.

Furthermore, the PM1743 is expected to be the industry’s first PCIe 5.0 SSD with dual-port support, guaranteeing server operational stability and high availability when a connection to one port fails.

Recently, the importance of data security has been growing stronger in the enterprise server market. To ensure that these needs are addressed, Samsung’s PM1743 will implement advanced security features that were traditionally only available at the server level. By embedding a security processor and Root of Trust (RoT), the SSD will protect against security threats and data forgery to provide data confidentiality and integrity, while also enabling Secure Boot in server systems through attestation.

Samsung is now delivering samples of the PM1743 to global chipset and server manufacturers for joint system development. The company plans to begin mass producing the PM1743 in the first quarter of 2022, as it continues to foster a highly robust ecosystem for the new PCIe 5.0 standard.

The PM1743 has been designated a CES 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree in the category of Computer Hardware & Components.

^* This description has been updated for clarity.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, showcased advanced memory and system logic devices at its Tech Day 2019 event. Fueling the future of tech for 5G, AI, cloud, edge, IoT, and autonomous vehicles, Samsung highlighted new processor and memory device capabilities. The company unveiled the Exynos 990 premium mobile processor, the 5G-enabled Exynos Modem 5123 and announced mass production of its third generation 10nm-class 1z-nm DRAM.

“Samsung is focused on harnessing the most advanced semiconductor technologies to power innovation across key markets,” said JS Choi, president, Samsung Semiconductor. “From System LSI devices that are perfectly adapted for real-world 5G and AI, to advanced solid-state drives (SSDs) that handle mission-critical tasks and offload CPU workload, we are determined to deliver infrastructure capabilities that are built to enable every wave of innovation.”

New technology announcements include:

• Exynos 990 and 5G Exynos Modem 5123: Delivers unprecedented AI-powered user experiences on-device with a dual-core neural processing unit (NPU) and enhanced digital signal processor (DSP) that can perform over ten-trillion operations per second. The Exynos 990 and 5G Exynos Modem 5123 harness the most advanced chipmaking technologies to-date with a 7-nanometer (nm) process using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.

• Third-generation 10nm-class (1z-nm) DRAM: Delivers the industry’s highest performance, energy efficiency and capacity, since mass production in September. Optimized for premium server platform development, the 1z-nm DRAM will open the door to a lineup of memory solutions at the cutting-edge such as DDR5, LPDDR5, HBM2E and GDDR6 products as early as the beginning of next year.

• 12GB LPDDR4X uMCP (UFS-based multichip package): Combines four 24Gb LPDDR4X chips and an ultra-fast eUFS 2.1 NAND storage into a single package, breaking through the current 8GB package limit in mid-range smartphones and bringing more than 10GB of memory to the broader smartphone market.

Samsung also proposed new business possibilities for next-generation memory technologies, including the company’s 7th-generation V-NAND with nearly 200 (1yy) cell layers for mobile and other premium memory solutions, and next-generation PCIe Gen5 SSDs for future server and storage applications.

Samsung’s third annual Tech Day hosted Silicon Valley’s leading companies, featured customer collaborations on GPU, PCIe Gen4 and HBM2e technologies, an industry-leading customer panel, and a demo pavilion showcasing the future of home automation, data centers, mobile/5G, and automotive technology.

“The proliferation of technological advances in 5G, edge computing and AI is changing the world at an exponential pace.  The impact of AI will be everywhere, from new avenues for communication and unprecedented connections. AI’s impact will be seen everywhere. Self-driving cars will take to our roads and homes and businesses will become truly connected,” said Choi. “To enable such innovations, technology infrastructure must lead the way. Samsung is committed to being at the heart of all this innovation — and it will be fascinating to see what the world can do.”